By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
A brand-new facility was officially unveiled last Tuesday, with local basketball, netball, volleyball, and futsal players set to reap the benefits.<\/p>\n
Moorabool Shire Mayor Cr Ally Munari, and East Moorabool Ward Councillors Moira Berry and Tonia Dudzik, joined Member for Eureka Michaela Settle and members from the Bacchus Marsh Basketball Association and Bacchus Marsh Netball Association to open the stadium with a ribbon cutting.<\/p>\n
Backed by a $1.925 million grant from the State Government\u2019s \u2018Local Sports Infrastructure Fund\u2019, the new four-court indoor stadium at Taverner Street \u2013 Stage 1 of the Moorabool Aquatic and Recreation Centre (MARC) \u2013 is set to fully open next month.<\/p>\n
The facility will accommodate for the more than 1,900 people in the two associations, not to mention players of volleyball and futsal. It will also be open for school sports events and other indoor sports looking to establish new teams and competitions.<\/p>\n
Cr Munari said the new facility would be a real asset to the community in 2024 and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe indoor stadium is a wonderful multi-purpose facility, and I\u2019d like to say thank you to the State Government for contributing through the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund to this $17.55 million project. Our aim is that this facility, once fully activated for community use, will improve the physical and mental health, and wellbeing of the community,\u201d Cr Munari said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a facility that can be used for both sport and social interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Settle thanked all those who had made the facility possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many sports communities, and so many groups who are going to be engaged here. I\u2019d like to take a moment to acknowledge my colleague [Member for Melton] Steve McGhie\u2026he was the original person that really pushed this with the State Government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can feel already how much a part of the community it\u2019s going to become. Basketball alone is in the thousands [of members] locally, and really needed this space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bacchus Marsh Netball Association Games and Umpire Coordinator Debbie Stevenson said the new stadium would give more people the chance to play netball.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully having more sport time, we\u2019ll be able to get more teams in, a bigger stadium with a roof that doesn\u2019t leak with rain. It\u2019ll give us a chance to expand in the future if possible, that\u2019s not really possible with where we are at the moment.\u201d Ms Stevenson told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
Belgravia Leisure will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the four courts, two multi-program spaces, and function room with kitchenette the facility contains, with its CEO Nick Cox saying the company was \u201cvery much looking forward to starting this partnership with Council and bringing the community of Bacchus Marsh and surrounds a much-needed modern sport and recreation space\u201d.<\/p>\n
The new stadium also contains 340 seats with standalone changerooms, a first aid room and referees\u2019 room, car parking with 118 spaces, and more.<\/p>\n
\u2018A\u2019 COMPONENT OF \u2018MARC\u2019 STILL MISSING<\/strong><\/p>\n Stage 2 of MARC, the regional bowls and community hub, has also been fully funded \u2013 but Stage 3, the indoor pool complex, has received Council and State Government funding, but still needs Federal Government funding to be completed.<\/p>\n Cr Munari and Ms Settle said they would both continue strongly advocating for the Federal Government to provide the final piece of the puzzle \u2013 a $15 million grant.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to push as hard as we can to achieve our goal. We\u2019ll continue advocating heavily to the Federal Government to provide the rest of the funding, so this wonderful facility can be completed. We\u2019ve got the bowls hub going up as well, it\u2019s going to be a wonderful facility,\u201d Cr Munari told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re listening to our community, and will continue listening to our community, on what they\u2019re telling us they want. For a really really long time, we\u2019ve known what that is, it\u2019s an indoor pool.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know how important it [the indoor pool] is to the community. We\u2019ve been running a petition, and we\u2019re collecting up signatures, we\u2019ll certainly be taking that to the Federal Government. I really want to see this built, I know how much it means to the community,\u201d Ms Settle added.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really glad we [the State Government] have stepped in and put in our $10 million, but let\u2019s get this built.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Lachlan Ellis A brand-new facility was officially unveiled last Tuesday, with local basketball, netball, volleyball, and futsal players set to reap the benefits. Moorabool Shire Mayor Cr Ally Munari, and East Moorabool Ward Councillors Moira Berry and Tonia Dudzik, joined Member for Eureka Michaela Settle and members from the Bacchus Marsh Basketball Association and […]<\/p>\n